Kids in Mother’s Milk

Aquinas rejected Augustine’s dismisal of literal interpretations of the law as “absurdities,” arguing that “the end of the ceremonial precepts was twofold, for they were ordained to divine worship, for that particular time, and to the foreshadowing of Christ.” Applying this principle, he sought for a plausible literal interpretation of the prohibition of boiling kids in their mother’s milk: “Although the kid that is slain has no perception of the manner in which its flesh is cooked, yet it would savour of heartlessness if the dam’s milk, which was intended for the nourishment of her offspring, were served up on the same dish.”

Anticipating Jacob Milgrom by centuries, he suggests that this law was intended to teach respect for animal life that would spill over in compassion for human beings.